DRINKING WATER

GettyImages-2153059351-gloved-hand-with-test-tube-testing-water From Utility To Ally: Smart Water Management For Customer Satisfaction

Smart water technologies improve customer satisfaction through accurate billing, leak detection, and data-driven insights, helping utilities build trust, reduce losses, and enhance operational efficiency.

DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS

  • Playing The Hand That's Dealt: How To Make Challenging Groundwater Better

    The city of Lemoore, CA, recruited a team of water treatment and construction specialists to address water quality and scarcity concerns.

  • How To Size An Advanced Oxidation System For A Variety Of Treatment Options

    While UV AOP technology continues to gain traction, there are few regulations or standards for it, making it difficult for engineers to specify equipment size for new installations.

  • Understand RF Propagation Of AMR/AMI Systems

    Most Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) systems installed in utilities use radio frequency (RF) communication. RF communication is also used for two-way radios, wireless supervisory control, data acquisition (SCADA) systems, office wireless networks, routers and cell phones.

  • Valve Health Diagnostics

    Valves are one of the most common assets in the process industry, spanning all verticals. Chemicals, refineries, and petrochemicals, however, will find improved valve health diagnostics useful for critical valves and controllers in their plants, while upstream and midstream oil and gas companies may be focused on much larger, critical valves like pipeline or subsea valves. Using Seeq, process manufacturers are able to implement a condition-based monitoring analysis to monitor valve health across an entire fleet. Engineers can utilize the historical data to accurately create a predictive maintenance forecast and preemptively detect valve failures before they occur.

  • How To Clean, Inspect, And Calibrate pH Sensors

    Once a pH sensor is installed in the process and operating, how do you determine when it is time to take the sensor out of the process and do a cleaning, or a calibration? Does one perform both a cleaning and a calibration or just a cleaning, or just a calibration?

  • Microfiltration Membranes Lead The Way In Water Filtration

    For water treatment professionals prioritizing precision and efficiency, hollow-fiber microfiltration membranes are revolutionizing the way industries and municipalities treat water.

  • EPA Scientists And Partners Team Up To Tackle Cape Cod's Nutrient Pollution And Protect Water Quality

    Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is known for its picturesque villages, sandy beaches, and seafood. But these iconic coastal waters, and the communities and ecosystems they support, are under an increasing threat from nutrient pollution.

  • How To Earn Straight 'A's For Water Accountability

    Specific needs for data accountability can vary widely across diverse market applications — industrial, municipal, agricultural, etc. Yet the underlying goal of each application is to gain the best insights for informed decision-making at the best overall value between capital expense and operating expense. Water monitoring Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offers new ways to achieve exactly that.

  • AMI And Leak Detection Stops The Flow Of Non-Revenue Water

    How are water utilities getting the deluge of real and apparent water losses under control? The City of Elmhurst, a stately suburb west of Chicago with a population of about 46,000 residents, is a case study on how one municipality took on the issue.

  • A Legacy Of Clean Water

    Helping to maintain clean water is part of the Whalen family history, a story that begins in the mid-1990s with a father’s fervent belief that his research could make a difference and his son’s intense desire to ensure it did.

DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES

  • LC-MS Analysis Of 33 PFAS Compounds In 5 Minutes
    11/4/2021

    In response to environmental testing demands for faster LC-MS analyses, the new Ascentis® Express PFAS HPLC and delay columns allow the highly efficient separation of 33 PFAS compounds in 5 minutes with reduced background contamination.

  • Improved Efficiencies In TOC Wastewater Analysis For Standard Method 5310B And EPA Method 415
    10/16/2014
    Total organic carbon (TOC) measurement is of vital importance to the operation of water treatment due to organic compounds comprising a large group of water pollutants. TOC has been around for many years, and although it is a relatively simple analysis in theory, operational efficiency is paramount.
  • A Comparative Study Of On-Line And Laboratory TOC Analyzers For Analysis Of Raw And Finished Drinking Water
    4/5/2013

    Total organic carbon (TOC) analysis is an important indicator of water quality throughout the drinking water treatment process. Raw source water is progressively treated in chemical coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and filtration steps to remove particulate matter and natural organic matter (NOM).

  • The Basics: ORP and Free Chlorine Monitoring
    5/13/2014

    Oxidation Reduction Potential or Redox is the activity or strength of oxidizers and reducers in relation to their concentration. Oxidizers accept electrons, reducers lose electrons. Examples of oxidizers are: chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, bromine, ozone, and chlorine dioxide. Examples of reducers are sodium sulfite, sodium bisulfate and hydrogen sulfide. Like acidity and alkalinity, the increase of one is at the expense of the other.

  • Application Note: YSI Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring And The IPSWATCH-EMPACT Program
    12/28/2005
    The Ipswich and Parker Rivers watersheds lie only a short distance north of Boston, MA. The first settlements in these watersheds began in the early 1600s. Since that time, residents have relied heavily on the natural resources of the Parker and Ipswich Rivers, their coastal estuaries and Plum Island Sound, which is known as the Great Marsh. This ecosystem has been designated and protected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
  • LC-MS Analysis Of PFAS Compounds In EPA 533 After Supelclean™ ENVI-WAX SPE Cleanup
    8/29/2022

    This application note demonstrates the extraction and subsequent analysis of 25 related analytes from water using Supelco SPE cartridges.

  • Application Note: Water Flows From The Golden Hills Of California
    1/20/2010
    Each morning John Johnson drives the few miles from his smalltown home in northern California to the Center at Pardee Reservoir. Nestled among the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the reservoir is a long 100 miles away from San Francisco Bay. By YSI
  • Reduced Bore Electromagnetic Flowmeter
    10/29/2021

    Being able to accurately measure both the quantity and rate of water passing through a water distribution system is crucial to gain an informed understanding of overall efficiency. As such, achieving a measurement that is exact as possible can have a significant impact on key areas. This includes supply planning, maintenance, resource deployment, leakage detection and the overall environment.

  • How To Read An Encoder
    9/13/2013

    The HR-E LCD encoder has a 9-digit Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to show consumption, flow and alarm information. The display automatically toggles between 9-digit and 6-digit consumption, rate of flow and meter model.

  • Determining Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) With Lovibond® OxiDirect
    3/12/2026

    The Biochemical Oxygen Demand over a testing period of n days (BODn) is precisely defined and associated with experimental standards. It represents the quantity of oxygen aspirated in the course of aerobic breakdown of organic substances by microorganisms.

DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS

The flowIQ 4200 is designed for commercial and industrial applications. This smart meter exceeds expectations, offering an extended range and superior durability. Geared for large-scale applications, the flowIQ 4200 can read the intricacies of your water system, lay the groundwork for reduced waste, increase revenue and allows for a greater peace of mind.

The  CHEM-FEED® Wall Mount Duplex Skid System is designed to be mounted on a wall freeing up valuable floor space. Available in a simplex and duplex chemical feed pump configurations. Pipe material options include PVC, CPVC, PVDF, and Chem Proline® (PE).

The DE NORA TETRA™ Modular DeepBed Filter Plant from De Nora Water Technologies is designed as a competitive filtration plant for tertiary effluent from small to medium size sewage works. The Modular DeepBed Filter utilizes the technology of DeepBed filtration that has made the TETRA filter such a successful tertiary treatment process over many years in Europe and the United States.

Pre-engineered, fully automated, low maintenance system for applications with average flows of 1 MGD or less; and up to 4 MGD. Proven FlexRake technology is paired with a perfectly-sized washer compactor to seamlessly remove, clean, compress and discharge screenings 10 ft in any direction.

The tried-and-trusted SITRANS FST020 transmitter has been upgraded to deliver enhanced performance, user friendliness and options for customization.

De Nora Water Technologies (DNWT) is the world leader in the supply of electrochlorination of biocide solutions to the power, marine, offshore industrial water disinfection and desalination markets. Over the past thirty years, DNWT has supplied 65% of the world wide installed base of on-site generated sodium hypochlorite.

LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER

DRINKING WATER VIDEOS

Water Research Foundation at the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center talking with Jim Fiedler and Andrew Salveson about upcoming WRF Direct Potable Reuse research projects.

Water scarcity challenges are growing. Manufacturing the products used in our daily lives consumes a large amount of water. Reusing treated wastewater provides the most sustainable source of clean water.

As utilities worldwide face mounting pressure from drought, water scarcity, and tightening regulations, this webinar explores how validated, chemical-free UV solutions are reshaping disinfection across surface water, wastewater, desalination, and potable reuse.

Rather drink sewage water than LA tap water any day.

In 2007 he was named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, but these days, Matt Damon is getting noticed for something far less sexy. During a trip to Africa in 2006, Damon made it his mission to help people in developing countries have access to safe water and sanitation. He talks to Katie Couric in "World 3.0".

ABOUT DRINKING WATER

In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:

  1. Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
  2. Drinking water treatment of source water
  3. Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers

Drinking Water Sources

Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater. 

Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.

Drinking Water Treatment

Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.

There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.

The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.

The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.

During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.

Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.

Drinking Water Distribution

Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.

A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.

Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.